By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Yonhap) — U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that a South Korean-operated cargo ship was “shot at” by Iran earlier this week after deciding to “go it alone.”
Trump made the remarks during an event at the White House, a day after he wrote on social media that Iran had “taken some shots” at the ship and other targets, and that it is time for South Korea to join a mission to free up shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
“South Korea got 43 percent of it,” Trump said, referring to the Asian country’s reliance on the strait for oil imports.
“By the way, their ship was shot at. They were not in the cavalcade of ships they had. They decided to go it alone, and their ship got the hell knocked out of it yesterday, but they didn’t shoot the ships that were guarded by us,” he added.
The South Korean government has said that an explosion occurred on the vessel operated by HMM Co., a major South Korean shipping firm, on Monday, when it was anchored in waters off the United Arab Emirates, and that an investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the incident.
The explosion came as the U.S. began its “Project Freedom” mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively choked off amid the Middle East war.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event to sign a memorandum in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on May 5, 2026, in this photo released by Reuters. (Yonhap)
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